Are We Being Tested?

Wednesday, July 1

On Wednesday morning it looked like it was going to be dry for the first half of the day.  Dan headed up to the bridge to start waterproofing the bimini.  I finished the breakfast dishes and went up to help.  He had already unzipped the front half and sprayed it with waterproofing.  I helped him with the back half.  The first heavy rainstorm proved that 303 Fabric Guard is amazing.  Before the treatment it just rained right through the canvas.  Now most of it was dry.  We need to pick up yet another bottle and hit a few spots that are stubborn.

While we were up top I started cleaning the isinglass window panels.  They were all moldy and filthy dirty, inside and out.  Some of them were amazingly clear when they were done.  Some of them are just toast.  No amount of buffing, polishing or cleaning was going to make them clear again. Dan and I also washed the windshield, dash and instrument cluster.  It seems like all we do is clean and there is still more to be done.

About eleven that morning Tom Webb and Chris his assistant showed up with our clamps and filters.  The guys got right to work and started replacing things.

Minutes after they showed up the toilet man came by too.  The day we moved onto the boat the hinges on the toilet seat in the master head crumbled into almost unrecognizable parts. Sitting on the toilet seat was like trying to surf sitting down. John Bragg from Royal Flush came by to see if he could replace it for us. He didn’t have a marine toilet seat in stock; but felt he could probably replace it with one from Home Depot.

He asked if he could get us anything else while he was there. “No, I replied, but could I go with you?”  I needed a wastebasket for the galley.  I’d looked at home for one and at Super Target without much success. I thought I could get by with the little 4 gallon one that I’d brought with us; but it just wasn’t going to work.  I was getting less and less picky about what I wanted to work in the galley. I also wanted to pick up some PVC pipe.  We’d been using the vacuum cleaner wands to prop up our storage spaces in the v-berth and master cabin.  I was really concerned that we were going to end up breaking them.

John and I headed off to Home Depot.  I found my waste basket and some liners.  John insisted he had some PVC pipe in the back of his truck that I could have.  We could not find a toilet seat that would fit; but we bought a $5.99 seat that we could cannibalize for brackets.  Why can’t you just buy brackets?  It’s a scam I tell you….

We got back to the boat and John installed our seat.  He said we didn’t owe him dime. What a guy!

Later we found his bill for his earlier work on our toilets.  He’d charged us almost $300 for replacing the seals in our Sea Land vacuflush toilets.  So, he made his money.  LOL

So, things are looking up, right?  Don’t be too quick to think that we are finally on track.  At this point in our Voyager fun; we are now afraid to even say anything about how well things are going.

So, all clamps are replaced and Dan has asked our mechanic, Tom Webb to go for a ride with us. Tommy is also a very able captain and actually captained and maintained this boat for the previous owner.  Once the previous owner started ignoring is bills he was done. So, we load up the boat with Dan and I, Tom, Chris and our broker Dick.  The tide is not all the way up; but both Dick and Tommy assure us that we will be just fine.

We cast off the lines and head out of the marina.  At the mouth of the marina channel is a boat ramp.  As we pass it we feel a slight bump.  Tommy assures us that this is not a big deal; it’s just silt built up by people power loading their boats onto trailers.

We make the turn into the intracoastal and Chris yells up from the cockpit that something isn’t right.  Shut er down Tommy….

Really, really?  We hear a rhythmic thumping from the starboard engine.  The same engine that cracked it’s exhaust elbow.  Tommy takes us back into the marina and pulls up to a close T dock.  He says we’ve picked something up on the shaft or prop. He said, “I’ll go in the water and look.”  Dan and I are both grateful that he volunteered.

His boat is nearby so he goes and changes into swim trunks and brings his mask and snorkel back.  Dan had brought out his mask just in case.  Tommy makes the first dive.  There is definitely something attached.  His mask strap breaks and Dan hands over his.

Next thing we know he starts putting stuff up on the dock.

We picked up a webbed lawn chair! And right next to the bottom of our boat is a crab trap.  Dick said, “I sure won’t be giving you any money to buy lottery tickets Dan.”

Tommy frees it all and we head back out into the intracoastal. He put the boat through it’s paces and everything seemed to be fine.  He did feel that we had some growth on the bottom on the bottom and gear.  He could feel it when he was trying to free the prop and felt it would affect our fuel economy.  He suggested that before we left in the morning that we should seriously consider having a diver scrape the bottom.

Dick got on the phone and called around for a diver.  He found one that would come at 6:15 in the morning.  YAY!  Were we really going to get on the water tomorrow?